(A New distortion has begun, What will be the answer to the last distortion? Let us find out together shall we.)

Bold = English Conversations

Bold + Italics = Japanese Conversations

Distortion 34

Previous on Canon Distortion

When Sora arrived in the 7th Hierarchical city of Kazomotsu, he was left with a bunch of shock. From the city not being the name he thought it was to being left to pick up on the pieces of what he was going to do. It was by a reveal from Amy, a woman that previously aided him and now was his enemy that he finally had his chance. Offering a chance to his former ally, it is up to Amy to decide if she would accept such an offer in the first place.

And now, the continuation of Canon Distortion

Bullet groaned as she scratched the back of her head, feeling a sense of frustration grow over her. The informant she had hoped would bring her closer to her target was nothing but smoke and mirrors and now she has nothing in her hands. All she wanted to do now was just go to a ditch and lay down on it for a bit and collect her thoughts but she figured she might as well go and pick up Sora and spend some more time with a man she had actually grown fond of talking to before doing that to try and lift up his spirits.

"I do seriously hope he has better luck than me in what he's trying to do." Bullet said as she had left him near the pizza shop knowing that he would be tempted to try the pizza there and then feel obligated to at least get her a slice before they went their separate ways. It's the only thing she could think that would keep Sora in the area for as long as possible. As her head turned towards the direction of the Pizza shop that she showed Sora, she noticed him eating a slice of pizza as she had expected.

What she did not expect was the woman approaching Sora and sitting next to him with a pizza slice in hand as that made her raise eyebrows. Did Sora already make another friend in this hierarchical city or is that someone from his mercenary days? Regardless, she knew she was going to be in for a treat as she approached the two. "So this is the Kazomotsu famous pizza I have heard a lot about." The woman said as Bullet got closer to the duo as Sora noticed her presence.

"Oh. Hey Bullet. Good to see you here." Sora said as Bullet simply nodded her head at that. "So...this an old friend of yours?" Bullet questioned as Sora looked at the woman that was beside him enjoying a slice of Kazomotsu pizza as he decided to introduce the woman to Bullet. "Bullet this is Amy, an old friend of mine that recently arrived in the city." Sora said with a direct bluntness that most people would have when they introduce their friend.

"Come on now, at least introduce me with a little bit more enthusiasm at least. We are friends are we not?" Amy said as she couldn't help but elbow Sora in what Bullet presumed to be what would suggest to be a friendly gesture. "Of course we are. But that doesn't mean that all friends need to introduce each other the same way." Sora replied as in order to understand why Sora and Amy seemed to be friends all over again in front of Bullet.

...We need to rewind the clock to just a few minutes before…

FLASHBACK

SORA POV

Waiting for Amy to give me her response was possibly one of the most agonizing things that could have happened to me so far. Sure I knew the offer I was giving them was very enticing and had its benefits but they were probably weighing their options and assessing if they wanted to even accept it in the first place? I am probably the first person to ever ask someone who watches over people from what seems to be a god eye's view to just watch me from the viewpoint of a human being. I honestly did not know if they would even accept in the first place.

I heard a sharp inhale of breath as I knew my answer was coming to me soon. Alright Amy, what is the Master Unit and your friend saying. They probably told you to reject the offer, say that it was too much of a risk to be around me at all times. You would need to keep me constantly in your sights and never let me go off on my own. I know my offer will be rejected most likely for the reasons I stated as it's much easier to just watch me from a distance rather than let me do my own thing.

"Right… me and my associates have come to a decision." Amy said as I simply nodded my head. "Right… what's their answer?" I answered back, keeping my response short as I wanted her to do more of the talking, not me. So come on Amy, just give me my answer so I can start my search into finding out if an Error like me can safely return back to their timeline and what methods I could use to increase my chances of getting back to the right timeline.

"We have decided to accept your offer." The moment I heard Amy say those words, I couldn't help but do a double take. Wait… they accepted my offer? Are they serious? They actually accepted the offer I gave them? I mean… I shouldn't be surprised but yet at the same time I am very surprised and now I am trying to not panic in such a way to show to them that I was very unaware of the fact that they were going to accept the proposal I made.

How am I supposed to react to that?! How do I make it seem like I made a proper gamble and it paid off but not sound like an idiot at the same time!? Alright… calm down Sora, no need to panic right now. "Alright then… in that case, why don't we just start right now." I said as I waited for Amy to respond to my blunt reply. Yeah I could add in certain details but I could feel like Amy would like to add some additional conditions to that to ensure that I don't betray her in any way.

"Before we start… there are only two conditions that must be followed for this agreement to be agreed." Amy said as that was what I was waiting for. I composed myself a bit, clearing my throat before looking at her with a dead serious look on my face as I had to give her a proper answer in this case. "What are your conditions?" I asked as I waited for Amy to give me her conditions. I hope one of them isn't something as crazy as surrendering myself to die once they get me back to my timeline if I agree to them spying on me as a way to ensure that they can kill me the moment they get me back home or to force me out of the deal so that they can continue to observe in silence.

"The first condition is to not reveal our true identities and the role we play unless we deem it necessary. We wish to keep the timelines stable and revealing our existence puts that work in jeopardy." Amy explained as that first request makes sense for the line of work Amy has been doing. It's the second condition that was raising in my mind as I remained quiet, deciding to let Amy speak the second condition instead of asking her myself.

"The second condition… is to answer any questions we may present you when the opportunity comes up. We want straight answers and only straight answers." Amy explained as that second request was even more confusing for me. Questions? For a person they tried to erase? Whatever Makoto did must have really been enough for them to try and either reassess the way they thought about things for now and maybe that is a blessing I should consider.

"I can fulfill those two conditions… but in regards to the second condition, I hope you understand I am human and not a machine. I cannot answer everything you ask of me perfectly but I can try." I said as I noticed Amy looking to the side for a bit, as if my response to her proposal surprised her. "Not a machine..." Amy muttered a bit loudly as she looked and noticed my raised brow that told her I had heard what she had said as she shook her head and cleared her throat.

"...That is a reasonable request to make. I will make sure my colleagues are made aware of the human error on your part." Amy said as I took a deep breath. Finally, I managed to have something go my way for once. Getting Amy to be just by my side so that I don't have to feel like god is stalking me is a good change of pace, not to mention the fact that now that I have a clue of what I am going to need to do, I can use this to my advantage.

"So...Do we have a deal?" Amy said as I nodded my head. "We have a deal." I said as we shook hands on that. "So where is Sector Seven located right now." I immediately asked as Amy looked at me with a look of shock and confusion. "Ummm...excuse me?" Amy questioned as my question definitely would have caught her off guard. "I am just asking where Sector Seven is located right now." I said bluntly as Amy shook her head greatly.

"Why do you need to know about the location of Sector Seven?" Amy questioned as I had figured she would ask that. "The first reason is because I wish to consult a person there. The second reason is so that I don't need to waste time gathering information just to figure out where I need to go." I explained as Amy wanted to say that I wasn't allowed to ask such questions to her as she looked conflicted and unsure how to respond.

"You don't need to rush about that. And before you say that wasn't part of the agreement, we didn't say that I could ask you for anything I need to know about this world. And if you want me to go back to my timeline faster to just erase me, you would benefit from giving me information that lets me get there faster." I explained as the logic was sound. Since my existence in this timeline would pose a risk to the events here and they wanted me to go back home quicker, telling me where I needed to go would have been the wisest option in this case.

"I… I need some time to consult and consider what you are saying." Amy said as I could hear the sounds of a stomach grumbling as I checked my own stomach by reflex wondering if I was still hungry but much to my surprise, I saw Amy being the one who was checking her stomach for food. "You...You get hungry?" I questioned as Amy looked at me as a small blush on her face formed as she looked away for a bit. "Can...Can we at least get something to eat first. Maintaining the barrier takes energy even from a person like me." Amy explained as I simply nodded my head, keeping this one lesson in my mind.

...You learn something new everyday…

"So yes, me and Amy met years ago and we were surprised to meet each other years later like this." Sora said as he was explaining to Bullet the cover story of how he came to knew who Amy was. "That's right. I was just coming through Kazomotsu to make a quick pit stop when I saw Sora, I couldn't help myself and just introduced myself to him again. Some light conversation and a pizza later, here we are." Amy said, having rehearsed the line several times in her head to make sure it came out naturally.

"I see…" Bullet simply said as Sora simply stood by the side and watched. He only spoke when he was directly asked to and more importantly did not feel like conversing too much and letting Amy talk for a bit, to get a general idea of what she was going to say next. "So Bullet… what brings you here of all places?" Amy asked, using a basic question most people would consider reasonable in asking as most people would like to know what the other is doing in most cases.

"Well...it was just a quick pit stop. To spend some of the cash I gained from work and make my way to the next hierarchical city in my destination." Bullet explained as Amy nodded her head at that. "So what do you feel like spending your money on? You feeling hungry right now?" Sora asked as Bullet placed a finger on her chin. "I was thinking about getting dinner. Maybe we can try some of the pizza here but I also heard that the Chinese food here is good too."

Sora had an idea of what he wanted to eat but he decided to let Amy decide as she seemed to be conflicted by what she should eat. This was the first time he was seeing her undecided like this as she didn't look like she was excited about the choices of food in front of her but more conflicted. "Why don't we have Chinese. I am pretty sure that we can have the pizza here from the 100 stores that sell their iconic pizza everywhere." Sora suggested as Amy couldn't help but feel a bit thankful for Sora guiding her despite their weird alliance right now.

"That does sound like a good idea. Chinese food is always a good choice in these Hierarchical cities." Amy replied, making sure that Bullet couldn't ask any other questions to her as Bullet scratched her head. "Which Chinese restaurant should we go to though… I heard that this Hierarchical city has one that specializes in mapo tofu and another does good peking duck." Bullet questioned as Sora looked at Amy, deciding to let her decide which one she wanted.

"I...I would like to try this Mapo Tofu please." Amy requested, making Bullet raise her eyebrow a bit. "You sure? It's going to be spicy so if you can't handle your spice don't blame me when your tongue starts burning." Bullet said as Amy rubbed her head a bit. "Do not worry about me. I can handle the spice levels." Amy explained as Sora remained a bit quiet. "What about you? Mapo Tofu quite the spicy dish." Bullet said as Sora thought about it before nodding his head.

"I don't mind eating some spice. Why don't you find a nearby restaurant that has that mapo tofu while me and Amy discuss some things real quick." Sora said as Bullet nodded her head at that. "Sure, I'll go and ask some locals, just don't go disappearing on me before we have that dinner alright." Bullet said as she went to do just that, asking people for directions. "So… Do you not talk to much people?" Sora questioned as Amy couldn't help but be surprised by that.

Amy: What gave you that impression?

Sora: Well now that I think about it, you normally just converse with me most of the time even back at the academy when we were alone. You didn't talk to me when there were other people around.

Amy: I mean… I can talk to people, it's just that I choose to be more secretive with who I choose to talk…

Sora:… that was a fucking lie wasn't it

Amy: Of course it was. I am a person who does the will of god. Of course I don't interact with people if I can help it.

"So what was with me? What made you stop observing from a distance and decide to directly talk with me instead?" Sora questioned as he couldn't help but wonder about that aspect. Was it because he was a Continuum Error like the Master unit had specified and thus needed to observe him from a much closer distance? Or was there something else involved in the decision making to make it important to observe him.

"In your case… you were a special case. If we lost you before you did what you were supposed to do, then we would have been tasked with finding another. But as you lived for longer and longer, it became more important to keep a close eye on you." Amy explained as Sora remained quiet as he understood the basic logic she was presenting to him. "So there were other Errors but I survived long enough you decide to use me instead." Sora said as he could sense there was something else involved but he would rather not pry as she seemed to be keeping quiet.

"Yes… We have a couple of Continuum Errors that we have just in case. You are just the first one to ever survive being erased… even if it was not by your own power alone." Amy explained as Sora simply nodded his head, understanding what she meant by that. "So Makoto Nanaya really did do something crazy… I wonder what kind of desperation she went through to just get me back… even if I am not yet back home right now." Sora said as he could figure things out by what Amy was saying and the earlier revelations.

But there was something Sora had to be made aware of and that is the fact that Amy could be sprinkling in false information for him to listen to and he may just believe it. What if there wasn't any other Continuum Errors and he just happened to be the only one? That was something he had to consider but if he tried to press Amy further and she decides to not tell him, that may harm the trust that they were trying to rebuild which in turn may hinder the support Amy could provide him.

"Yes… indeed, Makoto truly was a desperate woman to do what she did. We tried to kill her back in the timeline but she did something we did not expect." Amy said as Sora noticed what she had just said. "You said that but you never actually said it. Care to elaborate a little?" Sora questioned as he figured that Amy shouldn't really hesitate in answering such a question. "If I can be frank… we are still trying to figure out the extent of the damage that Makoto caused to the timeline as a result of her actions." Amy explained, surprising Sora a bit.

'Wow… whatever Makoto did must have really been that bad for the timeline. As much as I am proud of her doing that, that also makes me worry inside.' Sora thought as Amy could tell from his facial expressions that Sora was clearly thinking about Makoto at that very moment. "If you wish to know any details about her… you can ask me. I promise to not lie about anything if you do so." Amy said as Sora remained quiet hearing that proposition. He thought about it carefully, not wanting to make a hasty decision as he took a deep breath.

"… Then you can start by telling me what she did to make her go unconscious in the first place? That should be easy for you right?" Sora asked as he waited for Amy to respond to the question. Amy took a deep breath as she looked towards the sky. "She tampered with something we did not know what was going to happen… A weapon by the looks of it." Amy explained as Sora couldn't help but feel a sense of interest come out as a result.

"Just a weapon? Something tells me there's more to it than that." Sora said as he could tell that Amy was having some difficulty trying to explain this to Sora in a clear and concise manner so she took her time to compose her breath, not wanting to rush her explanation. "For some time now… we have been investigating the origins of a weapon that the Master Unit had never seen before. You wouldn't be aware of it, but a piece of a weapon was inside you for the longest time." Amy said as Sora nodded his head before holding his head in slight pain.

"The weapon in question was quite strange. It was just a normal weapon but when we pulled it out of you, it formed a protective barrier around you that ensured that we couldn't reach you." Amy continued, failing to notice Sora's sudden state of pain as he continued to try and focus on the conversation. "A barrier?" "To be more specific, a black barrier that was formed from pure Seithr… Not unlike what the Black Beast would make."

The words Amy spoke struck further into Sora's head as he closed his eyes at the growing pain. What was this sensation he was beginning to feel now? It felt like a needle was being jammed right into the back of his spine, forcing him to taste pain like he had not experienced in a long time as he could feel the stump of his arm and his blind right eye react and he did not know why. He tried to shake it off but the sensation continued to grow.

'How could...mere words affect me like this.' Sora thought as he focused on asking more questions. "A black barrier huh.. What does this have to do with that weapon of yours?" Sora questioned as he relaxed his posture a bit, trying to appear as if he was not in agonizing pain as sweat began to form and his face slightly paled. "Well… since it came from you, we had figured that was the reason why the Master Unit chose to make you a Continuum Error… but after containing you, besides finding and dealing with Makoto Nanaya, we were also tasked with finding and bringing the weapon back to the boundary for it's existence was deemed too dangerous."

Dangerous? Unknown? All of this coming from a mere weapon? How could that even be possible. "So when we finally found Makoto Nanaya… she made the choice to stab herself with the completed weapon and now we don't understand what is going on." Amy finished as she then noticed the pale look Sora had as he was beginning to pant a bit harder. The pain… it simply felt excruciating as Amy was quick to notice.

"Is something the matter Sora? You look pale." Amy questioned as Sora didn't hear her ask that question. All he could think about was the final words she said as he reached towards his chest out of instinct and touched it. A sharp sensation struck his chest as he couldn't help but feel a sense of panic as this sudden onset of pain was too sudden for even something like the Master Unit to mastermind but was a possibility.

"Form The Contract… Make Us Whole again Balmung…"

Those brief words that came into his mind caused him to breathe out a sudden burst of air as he was glad that there wasn't much of a crowd around them to notice him having a sudden attack like he was currently. The pain he had been feeling had subsided and the sweating had stopped. His face's color returned but the words didn't leave him… not especially since he immediately recognized the source of the voice that spoke to him at that very moment.

"Makoto…" Sora spoke as Amy was surprised to hear Sora suddenly utter her name with such dramatic flair. Fortunately or unfortunately for Sora, Amy couldn't help but think it was something else entirely at that moment. "I do not blame you for that kind of surprise. We were not prepared for what she did too. We still to this very moment are trying to figure out how can such a blind spot be presented in the first place and we were not made aware of it."

Sora couldn't help but feel a sense of relief that Amy misunderstood what he actually meant at that moment. If he had actually told her what was going through his mind, She might have asked more questions and based on what he was experiencing right now, that was going to be the worst possible situation to be in at that moment as he slapped his face a bit to refocus. "In...Indeed. So… what happened after that?" Sora questioned, wanting to find out even further what actually happened.

"What happened was like I explained. As soon as she merged with the weapon we had to evacuate immediately. As soon as we returned to see what had happened, Makoto Nanaya was unconscious." Amy explained as Sora slammed his fist on the bench, leaving an imprint much to Amy's expectations. She had expected Sora to react the way he did as he and Makoto did share a close bond with each other. It was one of the reasons why Makoto was able to remember him even while the timeline was trying to correct itself.

"If only I could see her right now… even if it's for a moment." Sora said as Amy heard what Sora had said before sitting down next to him. She could see the look of sadness on his face as his mind was clearly thinking about the squirrel woman at that moment. "But I guess I just have to take your word for it… despite our currently complex relationship." Sora said as Amy continued to not say a word, letting Sora speak out his feelings

"Sorry...do you think you can give me a bit of space for a bit… just to process everything right now." Sora asked as Amy, trying to at least rebuild some semblance of trust they had stood up and walked off to the Pizza stand to get another slice of Pizza. As she did so, Sora looked down on the sweat that had formed on the palm of his hands and swallowed some saliva in the process. His mind couldn't help but race to what he had just heard.

"Form the contract...Make us whole...Balmung…" Sora said in Japanese just in case Amy happened to be listening in, with the simple hope that changing the language he spoke it in would make it harder for Amy to detect his current feelings as childish as that seemed. The words themselves didn't really make much sense but that wasn't what concerned him at that moment. It was the fact that it was said with Makoto's voice of all things.

'Just what was that?..' Sora thought as he rubbed his face with his hand, his mind having so many questions as to what had just happened. What contract was he being asked to sign in the first place? What did it mean to be whole? Who was Balmung? Why did it call him Balmung but the most important thing Sora noted about the whole series of events is that Makoto of all people said all of that. Makoto, the person he has been trying to get back to, was now telling him to form a contract with something and make something whole in the process.

The more Sora tried to think about what was said the more it began to dawn upon him that being erased may actually be the last of his problems this time. He wanted to groan badly but decided against it and focus mainly on just what was currently happening in his life to get him to this point. He thought that it was going to be a simple find a way back home and then reunite with his girlfriend. But now things had gotten to a point where even he had to admit they were complicated.

'Alright Sora… Just calm down now… take each problem one at a time. We know of a way back home… how time to boost our chances of getting back home by any means necessary… while keeping in mind the words spoken to me by a woman using Makoto's voice in my head.' Sora thought as he couldn't help but think he had somehow managed to gain insanity from just that series of words and thoughts alone. If he could cry at that moment he would and simply took a deep breath to relax his mind and focus himself back on the task.

"Was that enough time for you to get your shit together?" Amy questioned as Sora was so caught up by his thoughts he had failed to notice that Amy had used a swear word at that moment. "Honestly, I don't think any time would fix the damage you and this Master Unit has done to my life. I would sue for damages but since this Master Unit is the equivalent of god that seemed to an impossible idea." Sora said, making Amy giggle a bit at his choice of words before quickly realizing what she had done and cleared her throat to bring the conversation back to a more serious tone once again.

"Indeed… but if we are ready to go, we should meet up with Bullet soon to have this Mapo Tofu and then part ways with her. It would be easier for us if we did not involve any more of the people of this timeline and operated by ourselves… especially since you want to go and discuss things with Sector Seven of all things." Amy said as the two suddenly heard footsteps followed by something dropping as they turned towards the direction of the source.

"Did...Did you just mention Sector Seven?" Bullet said, being the woman who dropped her item, in this case directions that led towards the chinese restaurant that had the Mapo Tofu that Amy had requested. Sora was surprised by the reaction that Bullet had but Amy had a look of calm on her. "Yes… do you know about Sector Seven Bullet?" Amy questioned as Sora was surprised by how calm Amy was being at that moment as Sora composed himself and cleared his throat.

"...A little… everything most people would know about Sector Seven." Bullet said, grabbing the items she had dropped to the ground as Sora could tell Bullet was trying to hide something. "I am guessing that you want to discuss with them about something?" Sora asked, surprising Bullet and making Amy look at him. "If you know Sector Seven, then you know how they like to be secretive in the first place. While they have public known contacts like the Red Devil, it is a mystery with how they managed to elude public detection for as long as they have." Sora explained.

"Yes… I am aware of that." Bullet answered as Amy decided to say something about this. "We were just talking about how Sector Seven functions and I just wondered how someone actually directly talks to them." Amy said, hoping to not divert this timeline's Bullet too much away from her destined path. "Yeah… and I think I do have a way of contacting them myself." Sora said as Bullet remained quiet hearing that, Amy looking at Sora with shock on her face as Bullet paused hearing that.

"Look...I do have a bit of a question to ask. But do you think we can go and get that Chinese dinner first? Just so we have some food in us as you tell me how you plan on doing this?" Bullet asked as Amy quickly grabbed Sora and dragged him to the side to speak to him directly. "What do you think you are doing here?" Amy quickly questioned as Sora looked at her. "She clearly wants something. I figured that she has been trying to do her own thing and if it means dealing with Sector Seven, I figured that I should help her out at least." Sora explained

"You understand that this is not your timeline and that helping her will not get you back home faster right?" Amy questioned as Sora understood what she was trying to do and simply nod his head. "Yes I do, but I figured that since she seems to have an interest in Sector Seven I might as well help her in any way I can… even if it's not my timeline, I cannot help but want to help her." Sora explained as Amy couldn't believe what she was hearing but to Sora it was something different.

"I cannot help but just want to help her a bit you know. Get her moving at the right direction…" Sora said as Amy decided to use the second clause she listed at that very moment. "If that is the case, Why do you want to do so?" Amy questioned as Sora understood why she asked such a question based on her reaction as he looked at his hands before his thoughts drifted back towards Makoto once again.

"It's because someone once helped me while I was dealing with my own stuff. No matter how much I tried to keep things a secret, I couldn't contain it eventually." Sora said as this immediately made Amy realize what he was talking about at that moment. "I just wish… to help as many people as I can. In any way possible." Sora explained as his desire was pure and true at that moment. He couldn't help but think about the days in the academy he would spend, fighting the Black Lotus all by himself and it was only through the support of everyone around him that he finally saw some progress in dealing with the threat in front of him.

"Will she be in more danger if I help her?.. of course that risk is always there. But at the same time leaving her directionless like that is something I am not willing to do anytime soon." Sora explained as Amy listened to his words before sighing deeply, unable to believe what kind of man Sora Minakaze was. "...Very well, if you understand the consequences of what you are doing, I won't try to stop you… but just understand that you are going against the will of the timeline if you do this." Amy warned as Sora sighed and scratched his head.

"Haven't I already been doing that since I was deemed to be an Error?" Sora's words at that moment left Amy silent as he walked towards Bullet at that moment to help ease her as to what they were discussing, Amy meanwhile couldn't help but feel Sora's words linger in her mind as she wondered what she will see now that she was watching him at a much closer distance instead of the perch she normally would do so. "Amy, we are going to get dinner now, you coming?" Sora called as Amy simply nodded her head at that, simply saying at that moment…

"Alright! I'm coming."

GREETINGS LOST SHEEP OF FANFICTION! HOW IS EVERYONE DOING ON THIS FINE DAY!? Welp, we are almost at the half way of the year again and I have to say, other than a few events, 2022 seems to be looking to be a more normal year than most. Just another normal year and nothing is going on in the world right now. The sooner we can get to normality the sooner we can just live our lives to the fullest.

SO WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT TO THE PEOPLE INVOLVED!? HOW WILL AMY'S PRESENCE AFFECT WHAT SORA'S DECISIONS!? WHAT ABOUT BULLET AND HER INVOLVEMENT IN ALL OF THIS!? FINALLY WHEN WILL SORA DECIDE HE FEELS SECURE ENOUGH TO PROCEED THROUGH BACK TO HIS OWN TIMELINE!? All this and more on the next Canon Distortion.